Photo: Sylvain Beauval
We could spend a very long time admiring that paintwork. Can you blame us?
The Honda GL1000 Gold Wing is great for long-distance riding, but its bulky anatomy doesn’t make it the ideal candidate for a custom makeover – or so you’d think at first. As a matter of fact, you’ll encounter numerous GL1000-based entities in today’s custom bike world, and the one pictured above comes from the Frenchmen over at Sur Les Chapeaux De Roues (SLCDR).
Manuel and Yann kicked things off with a 1976 model, which looked rather pitiful after many years of improper storage in a barn. From the get-go, it was perfectly clear that resurrecting this Gold Wing would be no walk in the park, yet the SLCDR duo welcomed the challenge with open arms. The motorcycle attained its current form in 2015, and to say it’s mesmerizing might be a bit of an understatement!
With the donor taken apart, the first step involved an all-encompassing refurbishment of its liquid-cooled 999cc flat-four engine. The mill was partially painted red, and it now exhales via handmade four-into-one exhaust pipework made of stainless steel. This module runs into a SuperTrapp muffler on the left-hand side.
In terms of structural mods, the French shop undertook some frame surgery to shorten and loop the Gold Wing’s rear end. That wasn’t the only change made to its skeleton, though, as the front section got reworked in order to accommodate the repurposed gas tank of a BMW airhead. Moreover, retrofitting the R-series fuel chamber on the GL1000 also demanded the relocation of its ignition module.
Sur Les Chapeaux De Roues had to build a new airbox, too, but this was only the start of their in-house fabrication work. At the back, they installed a bespoke tail section made of aluminum – the same material used to craft the seat pan and fresh side covers. You’ll spot a simple, yet elegant solo saddle in between the fuel tank and tail, while the southernmost portion of the frame tubing bears an LED taillight.
All this hardware is supported by Hagon shock absorbers, which give the classic Gold Wing a sportier stance and better handling characteristics. On the other hand, its original forks were retained, but they’ve been lowered and fitted with a pair of custom sleeves. SLCDR cloaked the motorcycle’s wheels in retro-looking SHR 270 tires from Shinko’s catalog, while its front end received a low-rise handlebar and an aftermarket headlight.
Well, the mods we’ve mentioned thus far are all pretty rad, but what will really get this creature noticed is the color scheme worn by its gas tank. The livery forms a multi-colored mosaic that’s hard not to fall in love with, and a decal depicting the workshop’s logo rounds out the paint job. Manuel and Yann added a flush-mounted, pop-up filler cap to keep the bike’s silhouette looking as clean as possible. Lastly, the tank-mounted speedo was supplied by Motogadget.
Manuel and Yann kicked things off with a 1976 model, which looked rather pitiful after many years of improper storage in a barn. From the get-go, it was perfectly clear that resurrecting this Gold Wing would be no walk in the park, yet the SLCDR duo welcomed the challenge with open arms. The motorcycle attained its current form in 2015, and to say it’s mesmerizing might be a bit of an understatement!
With the donor taken apart, the first step involved an all-encompassing refurbishment of its liquid-cooled 999cc flat-four engine. The mill was partially painted red, and it now exhales via handmade four-into-one exhaust pipework made of stainless steel. This module runs into a SuperTrapp muffler on the left-hand side.
In terms of structural mods, the French shop undertook some frame surgery to shorten and loop the Gold Wing’s rear end. That wasn’t the only change made to its skeleton, though, as the front section got reworked in order to accommodate the repurposed gas tank of a BMW airhead. Moreover, retrofitting the R-series fuel chamber on the GL1000 also demanded the relocation of its ignition module.
Sur Les Chapeaux De Roues had to build a new airbox, too, but this was only the start of their in-house fabrication work. At the back, they installed a bespoke tail section made of aluminum – the same material used to craft the seat pan and fresh side covers. You’ll spot a simple, yet elegant solo saddle in between the fuel tank and tail, while the southernmost portion of the frame tubing bears an LED taillight.
All this hardware is supported by Hagon shock absorbers, which give the classic Gold Wing a sportier stance and better handling characteristics. On the other hand, its original forks were retained, but they’ve been lowered and fitted with a pair of custom sleeves. SLCDR cloaked the motorcycle’s wheels in retro-looking SHR 270 tires from Shinko’s catalog, while its front end received a low-rise handlebar and an aftermarket headlight.
Well, the mods we’ve mentioned thus far are all pretty rad, but what will really get this creature noticed is the color scheme worn by its gas tank. The livery forms a multi-colored mosaic that’s hard not to fall in love with, and a decal depicting the workshop’s logo rounds out the paint job. Manuel and Yann added a flush-mounted, pop-up filler cap to keep the bike’s silhouette looking as clean as possible. Lastly, the tank-mounted speedo was supplied by Motogadget.
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